RudyProductions

Interesting thing to note: the Peel Godred Branch has been electrified since it was built in 1923! I get the feeling that the first Fat Controller wasn’t really the steam enthusiast that his son ended up being. He used what he could get! And with the Peel Godred Power Company funding the project, he’d be a fool NOT to electrify the line! And yes, my premise does require some jumping through hoops to justify in the “real world” but hey, who cares. At the end of the day I really just don’t want to limit myself to any one era and Sodor provides the perfect setting where one doesn’t really have to question why a Stirling Single is in operation along side an HST! Of course I could just make it easy on myself and run operations without think about the “when” at all, but just doing a “time warp” seems a bit cheap to me. That, and knowing me, I’d definitely end up with way too many Gresley’s! I need limits! Doing this as a “what if steam just kept on going” allows me a “Limited Freedom” as I like to call it!

Thanks for all the responses though I’m not sure any of them quite hit the mark I was going for. But regardless, it’s all in good fun. My idea going into this leans a bit more into the “fairytale” side of Sodor while still feeling right the “history” of the island could happen (albeit potentially extremely unlikely). I’ll go ahead and set the stage a bit more clearly: For starters during privatization the North Western Railway Company gained complete ownership and running rights over the rail network on Sodor. This is due in no small part to the silver tongued Sir Stephen Topham Hatt, the third Fat Controller, as well as the popular Railway Series books and the accompanying TV show, both of with had made BR hesitate to meddle with the North Western Region after Flying Scotsman’s visit in 1969. The railway is still predominantly run by steam and older diesels, but the Sudrians tend not to mind. The people of Sodor have always been “stuck in their ways” and BR’s constant attempts to force modernization in the 60s only encouraged the very independent Sudrians to double down and dig their heel in! This has produced a culture in modern Sodor that greatly values the steam engines that have been running the line (some since before the Grouping in 1923)! Now none of this would be possible without the resources available at Crovan’s Gate Works, one of the last true “Steamworks” in the British Isles! While it may pale in comparison to the likes of Doncaster or Crewe back in their heyday, Crovan’s Gate has all the facilities necessary for the full restoration of a steam locomotive. As a result, they have been approached by many a heritage railways to help restore and overhaul preserved steam engines! But of course the NWR’s greatest claim to fame is the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends TV series! Between enthusiasts and tourists, and merchandise sales, the NWR has all it needs to keep its steam engines running for many years to come! Again, is it likely, heck no! But it doesn’t require too much suspension of disbelief.

I think my biggest hurdle as a Railway Series fan and modeler is deciding on a era. Because the storyteller and modeler inside of me are at constant odds. By all accounts, it is highly improbable that a (mostly) steam railway would survive into the 21st century, and yet, here I am, choosing 2000-10 as my era. (Though me being a 2001 kid might have had an influence). BUT… if I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do it right! This thread is for theoretical discussion about how a modern (yet still familiar) North Western Railway would operate in the 2000s. Now this is post-privatization, so the NWR can have it’s own policies now, but surely some policies implemented during BR days will have carried over. There’s also the question of which BR policies (notably anything put into place after 1969) didn’t effect the North Western (formerly) Region (sectorisation and TOPS come to mind). This thread is NOT for discussing implementation of this topic to an actual layout or model. That will be for a separate thread elsewhere on the site. Once I get to that stage, I’ll link the accompanying threads here.

So I’ve been looking into the history of goods wagons, specifically, open plank wagons, and now I’m wondering, did any of these pre-BR wagons make it into the TOPs CARKND system? And what sort of identification marks would they have? I’ve been able to glean the first and third letters just from Wikipedia, but I can’t find a comprehensive list of what the second letter would be! For example, an unfitted five plank wagon would be an O_O. The first letter indicating it’s an open wagon, the last indicating that it’s unfitted. But that’s about all I’ve found. Thank you for any assistance in advance!

Thank you! And yes, I’m confident of how safe it is, but I’d rather not make an international call unless I really have to.

So in my efforts to Kitbash an LB&SCR E2 in OO, I have decided to not use a RTR chassis. Partially because I can’t stand butchering other chassis to fit the body. And being an OCD control-freak probably had a bit of an influence as well! Luckily, the Shapeways store I got the body shell from also sold the chassis to fit. It even pointed me to a good site to pick up a motor and gearbox! However, my loco kinda needs wheels (among other things)! The main issue is that I live in the States and the site I was directed to (Allan Gibson) doesn’t have a proper online store. And calling in to give them my card information doesn’t really rub me the right way. So if anyone could direct me to an actual online store where I can get the parts I’d need, that’d be awesome! And I don’t need anything US based (though that would be a nice bonus). As long as its an actual online store, it’ll suit me just fine! The Parts I Need (or at least want): driving wheels and axles crankpins push/pull gear sprung buffers handrail knobs handrail wire screwlink couplings bearings engine crew coupling rods

So I'm looking to model a fictional Cement Works and possibly a Limestone Quarry somewhere between 1948 and 1968 (only in Trainz for now, as I don't have the space nor budget), but I have very little knowledge of how these would actually work in operations. In the little bit of research I've managed so far there's actually a lot more to making cement than I realized! If I'm correct, Limestone is a prominent ingredient, hence why my Cement Works shares facilities with a Limestone Quarry. If this incorrect however, I'll most likely scrap any plans for the quarry. I will probably end up redressing the route to represent the workings at different points in time; my "history" is that it was originally opened in the early 1850s and served as one of the motivations for the opening of the (fictitious) local railway. So my main questions are: 1) What kind of commodities would the Cement Works (and quarry) need delivered to the site? Would this definitely change in the hundred years since opening, or is it possible that this site could still be using the same recipe? And also, what type of industries does it come from? 2) What commodities do they ship out? This seems obvious at first: Cement, in both bulk via presflos and pallets of individual bags of cement via box vans. The Limestone Quarry may also export, well... limestone, depending on the exact relationship between the two. I imagine they are both managed by the same company, though the quarry may be a subsidiary. But there is also the mater of waste. When they're done mining their limestone, and mixing their cement, what's left over that they have to get rid of? Where does it go? 3) What types of rolling stock are these commodities transported in? At least in the cases that aren't obvious (I'm not that clueless)! Thank you for any assistance!

I'm trying to track the history of the Class 04s that were fitted with cowcatchers and sideplates. Specifically 11100/D2200, but that's more a preference than a must. The idea is to make multiple models of one of these engines from arrival to withdrawal. From what little I can tell from Wikipedia and google, 11100-11103 were all fitted with sideplates and cowcatchers upon construction in 1952. in 1957, they were renumbered with the D- prefix numbers (D2200-D2203). D2203 was withdrawn in 1967, and D2200-D2202 were withdrawn in 1968. I know all four started in BR Black, what I don't know is: When did the transition to BR Green happen? Did any of these engines stay in BR black until withdrawal? Did they ever have their sideplates and cowcatchers removed? Did any of these engines make it to BR Blue? Thank you for any information you may have! I appreciate the assistance!